Problem
ACME Corporation is an international conglomerate operating in fields of industry, aerospace, health care, and consumer goods. It has manufacturing plants, offices, and various business functions in all major marketplaces around the world.
You are the senior internal auditor-investigator of ACME Corp. in charge of all matters related to internal investigations. ACME in-house audit team is comprised of many disciplines of forensics, e.g. forensic accountants, digital forensic investigators, investigative researchers, etc.
Given the success and competitive edge, ACME's employees are in demand and highly sought after by its competitors around the globe.
While you were enjoying a coffee on a quiet Friday afternoon, your peace was interrupted by an unexpected phone call from ACME's Director of Human Resources ("HR"); the Vice President ("V.P.") Finance submitted her resignation and announced her departure from ACME Corp. a few hours ago. Rumour has it that she is leaving for a competing corporation, Wild E. Enterprise.
Director of HR informed you that the senior management (of ACME) and the board of directors are highly suspicious and worried that the VP Finance's departure would lead to the transfer of ACME's proprietary information without proper approval.
Management of Omega Corp. instructed you to lead a team to investigate whether any wrong-doing was committed by the departing V.P. Finance.
As you were wondering how to approach this investigation, Director of HR called again and informed you that three other senior employees from the Finance Department had also resigned. These three individuals had worked closely with the just-resigned V.P. Finance.
Given the sudden nature of these departures, ACME's management is very concerned about its implication and possible impact.
You are assigned as the project lead for an investigative team with special focus on the departed staff (i.e., V.P. Finance and the three senior employees).
Your main goal is to develop an investigative plan to determine if the departure of these employees would impact or negatively affect ACME's interest. For example, whether ACME's proprietary information would be transferred to its competitors and to determine whether there is some of kind of a conspiracy at play that may affect ACME's interest.
Draft an investigative plan - your plan needs to address, but not limited to, the following:
a) How to acquire the necessary background information for this investigation?
b) What are the methodologies for ESI collection